{"id":1020,"date":"2024-01-16T17:23:57","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T22:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theprodigalempire\/?p=1020"},"modified":"2024-01-16T17:27:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T22:27:03","slug":"deep-theology-in-indigo-the-color-of-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theprodigalempire\/2024\/01\/deep-theology-in-indigo-the-color-of-grief\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep Theology in Indigo: The Color of Grief"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Indigo: The Color of Grief
By Jonathan Foster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Grief is a central tenet of the Christian story. God grieves the loss of perfect unity in the Garden and Job grieves the loss of his family. The prophets grieve the situation Israel continues to find themselves in and Jesus grieves his friend Lazarus. Still, American Christianity has such a hard time acknowledging grief<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Grief is often a point in our lives where we are forced to renegotiate what we think about the world. Our systems have been upended, and now we have to find a way to continue in this new life. For Jonathan Foster<\/a>, when his daughter died unexpectedly<\/span>, his relationship with God had to be reinterpreted. Indigo: The Color of Grief<\/a> is a beautiful, poetic walk through, as he puts is:<\/p>\n
\u201cit\u2019s weird
\nabsence is nothing
\na\u00a0<\/em>no-thing
\nbut it\u2019s very much something a\u00a0<\/em>some-
\nthing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nHow This Grief is Observed<\/h2>\n \ Foster doesn\u2019t shrink from grief. I think what people discount is the grieving are still somehow there. What I mean is that \u2013 grief doesn\u2019t have to be the negation of joy and laughter. Jonathan fits the entirety of himself into this story because he is there. Whether it\u2019s the story of the posthumously received Cap\u2019n\u2019Crunch or the tone deaf recommendation of Christian radio, grief is not a one-dimensional experience.<\/p>\n \ The prose itself is a testament to his concept of a no-thing. His poetry fills only a small piece of each page. In crafting each phrase, he is leaving room for the no-thing. The some-thing that is there when the no-thing comes home. To me, he is leaving room for his daughter to \u2018fill in the gaps on the page\u2019. As I read, I found myself stopping at points to stare at the empty page. I wanted to let her speak.<\/p>\n
Deep Theology<\/h2>\n \ I think much of the best theology is found outside the Bible. How we know anyone is by our experiences with them, and God is no different. Drawing on open theism and post-modern theology, Foster gives us a new way of working out grief. We don\u2019t have to lean on platitudes like \u201ceverything happens for a reason\u201d\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0\u201cGod must have big plans for you\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>There is a better way.<\/p>\n " \u201ci doubt<\/em> \nGod\u2019s interested <\/em> \nin such labels <\/em><\/p>\n \ bad people good people <\/em><\/p>\n \ i think it\u2019s a bit <\/em> \nmore nuanced than that\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \ What Foster does so well is see the overlap in suffering and joy. The fiery pain of loss is the same fire of love. We cannot experience love without loss. Hell is more than an eternal pit of fire \u2013 hell is \u201cthe burning of love\u2019s invitation to be embraced.\u201d Heaven isn\u2019t a place \u2018up there\u2019, but rather the interconnection of God with us.<\/p>\n " \u201ci think the same<\/em> \nis true for God<\/em> \ngiven heaven\u2019s <\/em> \nentanglement with God <\/em><\/p>\n \ whether or not God exists <\/em> \nis in part<\/em> \nup to us <\/em><\/p>\n \ for God cannot <\/em> \nhold the orphan<\/em> \nfeed the hungry<\/em> \nsit close to the lonely at lunchroom table <\/em><\/p>\n \ God cannot<\/em> \nbuild the levee insert the needle sit close <\/em><\/p>\n \ to the lonely at gravesite <\/em><\/p>\n \ but we can\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n What Now?<\/h2>\n** ** **Indigo: The Color of Grief is a must read for everyone. It doesn\u2019t matter \u2018how bad\u2019 your loss is, we\u2019ve all experienced it. Humanity is linked with suffering and grief and how we view the world around us makes a big difference. His last verse \u2013 how he concludes his grief \u2013 is an invitation to reflect. However we live, we are left with a question.<\/p>\n " \u201cand<\/em>** \nnow these two questions remain why do bad things happen?<\/em> \nand why do good things happen? but the greatest of these is <\/em> \nwhy do good things happen?\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n ** \n ** **
<\/p>\n Brad is a se<\/span>minary student at Northwind Theological Seminary studying theology and the changing religious landscape in America. His master\u2019s thesis looks at the role of the 20th century American Church in labor and social reforms. He works as a research assistant at the University of Rhode Island\u2019s College of Pharmacy providing education and support for rural New Englanders impacted by the opioid epidemic. Brad spends nights and weekends playing in regional bands as a bassist, guitarist, and vocalist. When not at a computer, he loves to spend time with his wife and chasing his toddler around the house. You can go to his website<\/a> to get updates on his writing, podcasting, and other events.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grief is a central tenet of the Christian story. God grieves the loss of perfect unity in the Garden and Job grieves the loss of his family. The prophets grieve the situation Israel continues to find themselves in and Jesus grieves his friend Lazarus. Still, American Christianity has such a hard time acknowledging grief. Grief […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4941,"featured_media":981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,209],"tags":[51,36,225,96],"class_list":["post-1020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflections","category-theology-and-philosophy","tag-church","tag-history","tag-speakeasy","tag-suffering"],"yoast_head":"\nDeep Theology in Indigo: The Color of Grief<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Prodigal Empire - Grief is a central tenet of the Christian story. 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